KOTA KINABALU: Anuar Ghani (pic), the son of a former Ranau political heavyweight from the Usno era of 1970s, is Sabah STAR’s candidate to take on Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s strongman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun for the Karanaan seat.
Anuar, who is Sabah STAR information chief and political secretary to party president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, has got the full backing of the party’s Karanaan division to challenge the popular state Finance Minister Masidi, who has held the seat for five-terms since 2004.
The 65-year-old Anuar, son of the late federal minister Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Gilong, was picked during a special meeting by the Karanaan division leaders as the best choice to take on 75-year-old Masidi.
“We stand firmly behind this decision. Anuar is not only a native son of Karanaan who understands the heartbeat of the community, but also possesses a strong professional background.
“Our entire machinery is now ready to be mobilized at any time,” Sabah STAR’s Karanaan division said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Anuar said that he was ready to take up the “big challenge” and would leave it to party president Kitingan to make the final decision and announcement on his candidacy.
"Masidi is a very tough opponent with a formidable track record but I am prepared to take up the challenge,” said Anuar, whose Sabah STAR has been strengthening its political bases in the native Kadazandusun, Murut and Rungus seats.
Masidi, who was GRS secretary-general and Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah deputy president, won the seat with a comfortable 4,814 vote majority in a four-corner fight during the last state election.
Masidi, who contested on a PN-Bersatu ticket, crushed his rivals when he picked up 6,696 votes with his opponent Parti Warisan’s Awasi Ganie@ Yasin Abdul Ghani managing to muster only 1,882 votes while the two candidates from Usno and Parti Cinta Sabah lost their deposits.
Yasin and Anuar are brothers but have taken different political paths. Yasin has since left Warisan and is now with Masidi.
Sabah STAR left the GRS coalition a week before the dissolution of the Sabah state assembly on Oct 6 and has opted to go solo in the coming election as the party was not keen for GRS to forge a pact with Pakatan Harapan.
Other opposition parties- Parti KDM and Warisan -have yet to indicate their candidates for the Karanaan seat which sits on the foothills of Mount Kinabalu.
